Wichita eagle., 1887-05-24

| northern states, having scCuIeu thd' AoP.c-
sentation they turn around and repress Its
impression. After having secured the ad-
ditional vote they will not permit and have
not permitted single negro to hold posi-
ton in the house or on the electoral college
but having counted his vote in the great
system of our political equalization, ne Is
entirely suppressed, and yet the advocates
of equal or impartial suffrage knowing
what the result OF the hfteenth
has been, knowing that it has been an alb
solute and unqualified failure, and has dis
appointed the expectation of all its advo-
Gates, deliberately propose to precipitait,e
into the politics Of this country some mil
lions more of illiterate, ignorant and I'M
cultivated voters of the female sex.
K
have heard great many women regret
that they were not men, but have never
heard a man wish that he was woman, or
regret that he had not been born woman
| do not state this with anything but reVer-
smile. because, Notwithstanding all our
wisdom. sex must forever remain one OF
the great insoluble and mysterious prob
lens of human destiny, and the statement
that made shows the inexplicable i'm
munity, the astonishing escape that man
has made in this great problem
from the burdens and weaknesses. and in
firmities of women, which to every noble
and generous and manly soul are the
source of her greatest strength, her guard,
her ornament and her protection. An
other difficulty about discussing the ques-
ton of woman suffrage is that its advocates
refuse to recognize the radical inherent
difference between man andwoman. They
insist that woman shall be treated In this
problem only as q smaller and weaker man.
A good woman is better than the best man;
bad woman is worse than the worst man;
but the fact of the sex remains and fixes
the relations of the parties. 1t is idle to
attempt to ignore it, and the difficulty OF
the situation is that the
argument leaves off where it
ought to begin; and the great difficulty
under which those who are opposed to
female suffrage, who believe it will be
calamity, that 1t would make women mas
culine and men feminine, is that no man
upon the platform dares to say what is In
his mind, and what is in the mind of every
man and every woman In the audience who
hears him. The conditions of determining
the relation of woman to society, are such
that no man can speak Of them without
offense, and that is why argument is i'm
possible. This is why it is that when the
advocates of this idea, this theory, insist
that we shall ignore the question Of sex
and treat every woman as though she were
merely one of inferior capacity to ourselves
is fallacious and hopeless. 1t is not a
question of intelligence at all. 1t
is question of morals. We all know
that there are thousands and millions of
women competent to vote. know hun
dreds and scores of women vastly better
qualified TO vote upon the question OF
morality than thousands Of men who DO
vote. It is not that they are less intelli-
gent. 1t is not that they are less moral.
It is not that they are less capable. 1t is
because they are women. When that
point has been reached, that is the end OF
the argument for the reasons that l have
mentioned because It is impossible without
offense, without breech of decorum and
propriety for any man or woman upon the
platform in public to dwell upon those
facts which constitute the vital and perma-
nent and radical differentiation of the sexes,
and it is because of that and on account OF
that, that it has been recognized by
every people upon the face of
the earth as reason why women
should not vote, not because they are in
competent, not because they are immoral
God forbid-not because they are without
power of protection, but because they are
women. Because to them, and to them
alone is confded the destiny or happiness
or the misery or the welfare not only of
individuals but of nations. The next gen.
Grafton of men and women in Kansas is
what the mothers of today make them,
and if they diffuse and waste their powers
given them for this purpose in places
where they are disqualified from exercis-
ing them, 1t is not the women alone who
will feel the loss, it is the men and the
state. Therefore, it is as l have said,
that regret that this issue has been pre-
scented to the people of Kansas, not be-
cause l have any fear as to the result,
either in politics or in legislation, because
no man owes more to the influence of wo-
men than l who speak to you. No man
has deeper reverence for all that makes
true manhood than have, and hope the
women of Kansas, when this subject is
confided to them, will say not only that
they do not require the sixteenth amend
ment to the constitution of the United
States, but are unwilling to participate in
any other degree than that in which they
now mingle in the affairs of the state by
accepting the ballot, no matter with what
majority it may be rendered to them. l
trust that nothing can tend to weaken or
impair in any way the reverence that we
and all of us feel for that mys-
FERROUS and inexplicable union Of mind
and soul and body which consti.
tutes the family. That is the unity OF
the state, which not only is for the perpet-
uation Of the species, but is also the found
alton and source of its hottest function,
which serves to build up and dignity tie
condition of human nature. and which
binds the family together in ties more dis
soluble and more enduring than laws can
possibly. create, and that by the reciprocal
endearmeuts already resulting from the
mutual interests and mutual honor gives
rise to that affection which perishes in the
brutes with the institutions OF nature to re
| fleet back upon human souls.
Do not forget that these limitations are
not placed by man. They are due to a
higher power, and there is no legislation
that can veto the ordinances of nature OF
that can abrogate the statutes of Almighty
God.
wICHITANS AT GEUDA SPRINGS.